Methods and systems for improving infection control in a building

ABSTRACT

A building management system (BMS) for a medical facility that includes a plurality of rooms with at least one of the rooms having a plurality of sensors. An elevated infection risk determination system is operatively coupled to the plurality of sensors for determining when an elevated infection risk occurs in one or more of the rooms. The BMS may include a memory for storing one or more programmable infection risk compliance parameters, an input port for receiving an elevated infection risk alert for the particular room in the medical facility, a control port for providing control commands to one or more building components of the building management system, and a controller. The controller may be configured to provide control commands via the control port in response to receiving the elevated infection risk alert for the particular room based at least in part on one or more programmable infection risk compliance parameters to help mitigate the elevated infection risk in the particular room.

This is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/196,297, filed Mar. 9, 2021, and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORIMPROVING INFECTION CONTROL IN A BUILDING”, which is a continuation ofco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/246,437, filed Jan. 11,2019, and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING INFECTION CONTROLIN A BUILDING”, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,978,199, both of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure generally relates to building management systems, andmore particularly to systems and methods for monitoring and manipulatingconditions in a building to reduce the risk of infection for buildingoccupants.

BACKGROUND

Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) and/or Surgical Staff Infections(SSI) are infections caused by virus, bacteria and other environmentalfactors and are acquired within hospitals or other medical treatmentfacilities. It is estimated that HAI and SSI infections cost thehealthcare industry nearly $40 billion annually. HAI and SSI infectionscan be transmitted in multiple ways, including, but not limited to,surface contamination, airborne particulates and aspiration. Dependingon the medical application, activity, surgical procedure, and/orsusceptibility of the patient, it is believed that airborne particulatesmay contribute up to 90% of the HAI or SSI cases. Room contaminationfrom outside air, such as from door openings in an operating room, werealso found to directly correlated to increased HAI and SSI.

What would be desirable is a building management system (BMS) that isconfigured to improve healthcare hygiene and/or indoor environmentalconditions within a building to help reduce HAI and SSI.

SUMMARY

This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for reducing arisk of infection in a medical facility.

In a first example, a method for controlling a building managementsystem of a medical facility including a plurality of rooms with atleast one of the rooms having a plurality of sensors, wherein anelevated infection risk determination system is operative coupled to theplurality of sensors for determining an elevated infection risk in oneor more of the rooms of the medical facility may comprise receiving oneor more programmable infection risk compliance parameters for aparticular room in the medical facility and storing the received one ormore programmable infection risk compliance parameters in a memory. Themethod may further comprise receiving from the elevated infection riskdetermination system an elevated infection risk alert for the particularroom in the medical facility and in response to receiving the elevatedinfection risk alert for the particular room, controlling the buildingmanagement system in accordance with the one or more programmableinfection risk compliance parameters for the particular room to helpmitigate the elevated infection risk in the particular room.

In another example, a building management system (BMS) for a medicalfacility that includes a plurality of rooms with at least one of therooms having a plurality of sensors, wherein an elevated infection riskdetermination system is operatively coupled to the plurality of sensorsfor determining an elevated infection risk in one or more of the roomsof the medical facility may comprise a memory for storing one or moreprogrammable infection risk compliance parameters for a particular roomin the medical facility, an input port for receiving from the elevatedinfection risk determination system an elevated infection risk alert forthe particular room in the medical facility, a control port forproviding control commands to one or more building components of thebuilding management system, and a controller operatively coupled to thememory, the input port and the control port. The controller may beconfigured to provide control commands via the control port in responseto receiving the elevated infection risk alert for the particular roomto help mitigate the elevated infection risk in the particular room,wherein the one or more control commands control the building managementsystem in accordance with the one or more programmable infection riskcompliance parameters for the particular room.

In another example, a method for controlling a building managementsystem of a medical facility, wherein the medical facility includes aplurality of rooms of different room types, with at least one of therooms having a plurality of sensors, wherein an elevated infection riskdetermination system is operative coupled to the plurality of sensorsfor determining an elevated infection risk in one or more of the roomsof the medical facility may comprise receiving one or more programmableinfection risk compliance parameters for each of the different roomtypes, receiving from the elevated infection risk determination systeman elevated infection risk alert for a particular room in the medicalfacility having a particular room type, and in response to receiving theelevated infection risk alert for the particular room that has aparticular room type, controlling the building management system inaccordance with the one or more programmable infection risk complianceparameters that correspond to the particular room type to help mitigatethe elevated infection risk in the particular room.

The preceding summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of someof the features of the present disclosure and is not intended to be afull description. A full appreciation of the disclosure can be gained bytaking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as awhole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing detailed description of various embodiments in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a building or other structure thatincludes an illustrative building management system (BMS) that controlsclient devices servicing the building or other structure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the illustrative BMS of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative infection riskreduction system that uses a building management system (BMS);

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an illustrative method for controlling abuilding management system to help reduce HAI and SSI in the building;

FIG. 5 shows database entries of illustrative programmable infectionrisk compliance parameters; and

FIGS. 6-8 are schematic views of rooms including an infection riskreduction system.

While the disclosure is amenable to various modifications andalternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of examplein the drawings and will be described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the intention is not to limit aspects of thedisclosure to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description should be read with reference to thedrawings in which similar elements in different drawings are numberedthe same. The detailed description and the drawings, which are notnecessarily to scale, depict illustrative embodiments and are notintended to limit the scope of the disclosure. The illustrativeembodiments depicted are intended only as exemplary. Selected featuresof any illustrative embodiment may be incorporated into an additionalembodiment unless clearly stated to the contrary.

The disclosure generally relates to building management systems, andmore particularly to systems and methods for monitoring and manipulatingconditions in a building to help reduce the risk of infection forbuilding occupants. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a building orstructure 10 that includes an illustrative building management system(BMS) 12 for controlling one or more client devices servicing thebuilding or structure 10. The BMS 12, as described herein according tothe various illustrative embodiments, may be used to control the one ormore client devices in order to control certain environmental conditions(e.g., temperature, ventilation, humidity, lighting, etc.) to reduce therisk of infection for building occupants. While such a BMS 12 may beimplemented in a hospital or other clinical setting, it contemplatedthat the BMS 12 may be included in other buildings such as officebuildings, health clubs, movie theaters, restaurants, and evenresidential homes.

The illustrative BMS 12 shown in FIG. 1 includes one or more heating,ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems 20, one or moresecurity systems 30, one or more lighting systems 40, one or more firesystems 50, and one or more access control systems 60. These are just afew examples of systems that may be included or controlled by the BMS12. In some cases, the BMS 12 may include more or fewer systems. In somecases, each system may include a client device configured to provide oneor more control signals for controlling one or more building controlcomponents and/or devices of the BMS 12.

For instance, in some cases, the HVAC system 20 may include an HVACcontrol device 22 used to communicate with and control one or more HVACdevices 24 a, 24 b, and 24 c (collectively, 24) for servicing the HVACneeds of the building or structure 10. While the HVAC system 20 isillustrated as including three devices, it should be understood that thestructure may include fewer than three or more than three devices 24, asdesired. Some illustrative devices may include, but are not limited to afurnace, a heat pump, an electric heat pump, a geothermal heat pump, anelectric heating unit, an air conditioning unit, a humidifier, adehumidifier, an air exchanger, an air cleaner, a damper, a valve,blowers, fans, motors, and/or the like. The HVAC system 20 may furtherinclude a system of ductwork and air vents (not explicitly shown). TheHVAC system 20 may further include one or more sensors or devices 26configured to measure parameters of the environment to be controlled.The HVAC system 20 may include more than one sensor or device of eachtype, as needed to control the system. It is contemplated that largebuildings, such as, but not limited to, a hospital, may include aplurality of different sensors in each room or within certain types ofrooms. The one or more sensors or devices 26 may include, but are notlimited to, temperatures sensors, humidity sensors, carbon dioxidesensors, occupancy sensors, proximity sensors, etc. Each of thesensor/devices 26 may be operatively connected to the controller 22 viaa corresponding communications port (not explicitly shown). It iscontemplated that the communications port may be wired and/or wireless.When the communications port is wireless, the communications port mayinclude a wireless transceiver, and the controller 22 may include acompatible wireless transceiver. It is contemplated that the wirelesstransceivers may communicate using a standard and/or a proprietarycommunication protocol. Suitable standard wireless protocols mayinclude, for example, cellular communication, ZigBee, Bluetooth, WiFi,IrDA, dedicated short range communication (DSRC), EnOcean, or any othersuitable wireless protocols, as desired.

In some cases, the security system 30 may include a security controldevice 32 used to communicate with and control one or more securityunits 34 for monitoring the building or structure 10. The securitysystem 30 may further include a number of sensors/devices 36 a, 36 b, 36c, 36 d (collectively, 36). The sensor/devices 36 may be configured todetect threats within and/or around the building 10. In some cases, someof the sensor/devices 36 may be constructed to detect different threats.For example, some of the sensor/devices 36 may be limit switches locatedon doors and windows of the building 10, which are activated by entry ofan intruder into the building 10 through the doors and windows. Othersuitable security sensor/devices 12 may include fire, smoke, water,carbon monoxide, and/or natural gas detectors, to name a few. Stillother suitable security system sensor/devices 36 may include motionsensors that detect motion of intruders in the building 10, noisesensors or microphones that detect the sound of breaking glass, securitycard pass systems, or electronic locks, etc. It is contemplated that themotion sensor may be passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors, a microwavemotion sensor, an ultrasonic motion sensor, a tomographic motion sensor,a video camera having motion detection software, a vibrational motionsensor, etc. In some cases, one or more of the sensor/devices 36 mayinclude a video camera. In some cases, the sensor/devices 36 may includea horn or alarm, a damper actuator controller (e.g. that closes a damperduring a fire event), a light controller for automatically turningon/off lights to simulate occupancy, and/or any other suitabledevice/sensor. These are just examples.

In some cases, the lighting system 40 may include a lighting controldevice 42 used to communicate with and control one or more light banks44 having lighting units L1-L10 for servicing the building or structure10. In some embodiments, one or more of the lighting units L1-L10 may beconfigured to provide visual illumination (e.g., in the visiblespectrum) and one or more of the light units L1-L10 may be configured toprovide ultraviolet (UV) light to provide irradiation. The lightingsystem 40 may include emergency lights, outlets, lighting, exteriorlights, drapes, and general load switching, some of which are subject to“dimming” control which varies the amount of power delivered to thevarious building control devices.

In some cases, the fire system 50 may include a fire control device 52used to communicate with and control one or more fire banks 54 havingfire units F1-F6 for monitoring and servicing the building or structure10. The fire system 50 may include smoke/heat sensors, a sprinklersystem, warning lights, and so forth. In some cases, the access controlsystem 60 may include an access control device 62 used to communicatewith and control one or more access control units 64 for allowing accessin, out, and/or around the building or structure 10. The access controlsystem 60 may include doors, door locks, windows, window locks,turnstiles, parking gates, elevators, or other physical barrier, wheregranting access can be electronically controlled. In some embodiments,the access control system 60 may include one or more sensors 66 (e.g.,RFID, etc.) configured to allow access to the building or certain partsof the building 10.

In a simplified example, the BMS 12 may be used to control a single HVACsystem 20, a single security system 30, a single lighting system 40, asingle fire system 50, and/or a single access control system 60. Inother embodiments, the BMS 12 may be used to communicate with andcontrol multiple discrete building control devices 22, 32, 42, 52, and62 of multiple systems 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. The devices, units, andcontrollers of the systems 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 may be located indifferent zones and rooms, such as a common space area (a lobby, awaiting room, etc.), in a dedicated space (e.g., a patient room, anoperating room, etc.) or outside of the building 10. In some cases, thesystems 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 may be powered by line voltage, and may bepowered by the same or different electrical circuit. It is contemplatedthat the BMS 12 may be used to control other suitable building controlcomponents that may be used to service the building or structure 10.

According to various embodiments, the BMS 12 may include a host device70 that may be configured to communicate with the discrete systems 20,30, 40, 50, 60 of the BMS 12. In some cases, the host device 70 may beconfigured with an application program that assigns devices of thediscrete systems to a particular device (entity) class (e.g., commonspace device, dedicated space device, outdoor lighting, unitarycontroller, and so on). In some cases, there may be multiple hosts. Forinstance, in some examples, the host device 70 may be one or many of thecontrol devices 22, 32, 42, 52, 62. In some cases, the building controldevices 22, 32, 42, 52, 62 may be configured to transmit a commandsignal to its corresponding building control component(s) for activatingor deactivating the building control component(s) in a desired manner.In some cases, the building control devices 22, 32, 42, 52, 62 may beconfigured to receive a classification of building control component andmay transmit a corresponding command signals to their respectivebuilding control component in consideration of the classification of thebuilding control component.

In some instances, the building control devices 22, 32, 62 may beconfigured to receive signals from one or more sensors 26, 36, 66located throughout the building or structure 10. In some cases, thebuilding control devices 42 and 52 may be configured to receive signalsfrom one or more sensors operatively and/or communicatively coupled withthe lighting units L1-L10 and the fire units F1-F6 located throughoutthe building or structure 10, respectively. In some cases, the one ormore sensors may be integrated with and form a part of one or more oftheir respective building control devices 22, 32, 42, 52, 62. In othercases, one or more sensors may be provided as separate components fromthe corresponding building control device. In still other instances,some sensors may be separate components of their corresponding buildingcontrol devices while others may be integrated with their correspondingbuilding control device. These are just some examples. The buildingcontrol devices 22, 32, 42, 52, 62 and the host device 70 may beconfigured to use signal(s) received from the one or more sensors tooperate or coordinate operation of the various BMS systems 20, 30, 40,50, 60 located throughout the building or structure 10. The one or moresensors 26, 36, 66, L1-L10, and F1-F6 may be any one of a temperaturesensor, a humidity sensor, an occupancy sensor, a light sensor, a videocamera, a current sensor, a smoke sensor and/or any other suitablesensor. In one example, at least one of the sensors 26, 36, 66, or othersensors, may be an occupancy sensor. The building control devices 22,32, 42, 62 and/or the host device 70 may receive a signal from theoccupancy sensor indicative of occupancy within a room or zone of thebuilding or structure 10. In response, the building control devices 22,32, 42, and/or 62 may send a command to activate one or more buildingcontrol component(s) located in or servicing the room or zone whereoccupancy is sensed.

Likewise, in some cases, at least one of the sensors 26 may be atemperature sensor configured to send a signal indicative of the currenttemperature in a room or zone of the building or structure 10. Thebuilding control device 22 may receive the signal indicative of thecurrent temperature from the temperature sensor 26. In response, thebuilding control device 22 may send a command to an HVAC device 24 toactivate and/or deactivate the HVAC device 24 that is in or is servicingthat room or zone to regulate the temperature in accordance with adesired temperature set point. In yet another example, one or more ofthe sensors may be a current sensor. The current sensor may be coupledto the one or more building control components and/or an electricalcircuit providing electrical power to one or more building controlcomponents. The current sensors may be configured to send a signal to acorresponding building control device, which indicates an increase ordecrease in electrical current associated with the operation of thebuilding control component. This signal may be used to provideconfirmation that a command transmitted by a building control device hasbeen successfully received and acted upon by the building controlcomponent(s). These are just a few examples of the configuration of theBMS 12 and the communication that can take place between the sensors andthe control devices. As shown in FIG. 2, the host device 70 can functionas a server, a client, a local controller, or any other suitable device.In the example shown, the host device 70 can perform variouscommunication and data transfer functions as described herein and canexecute one or more application functions. The host device 70 can be anyof a variety of computing devices, such as a server computer, a desktopcomputer, a handheld computer, a tablet computer, mobile telephone orother mobile device, and the like. The components of the host device 70may include, but are not limited to, a controller 104, a system memory106, and a bus 108 that couples various system components including thesystem memory 106 to the controller 104.

The controller 104 may include one or more controllers or processorsthat execute instructions stored in the system memory 106. Thecontroller 104 may include a programmable microprocessor. Such aprogrammable microprocessor may allow a user to modify the control logicof the host device 70 even after it is installed in the field (e.g.,firmware update, application update). When provided, the bus 108 mayrepresent one or more of any of several types of bus structures,including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, anaccelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of avariety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation,such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus,Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, VideoElectronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and PeripheralComponent Interconnect (PCI) bus.

The system memory 106 of the host device 70 can include computer systemreadable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random accessmemory (RAM) 112 and/or cache memory 114. The host device 70 may furtherinclude other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computersystem storage media. By way of example only, the storage system 116 canbe provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable,non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically called a “harddrive”). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from andwriting to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppydisk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to aremovable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or otheroptical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connectedto the bus 108 by one or more data media interfaces. As will be furtherdepicted and described below, the system memory 106 may include at leastone program/utility 118 having a set of program modules that areconfigured to receive an input from an infection risk determinationsystem and control (or send control commands) to at least a portion ofthe BMS to mitigate an elevated infection risk.

In one example, the program/utility 118 may be stored in the systemmemory 106 and may include one or more application program modules(e.g., software), such as fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) module120 and/or infection risk mitigation module 122. In some cases, theprogram/utility 118 may include additional program modules as well as anoperating system, one or more other application program modules, andprogram data. The FDD module 120 and/or infection risk mitigation module122 may execute on the host device 70. In some cases, the FDD module 120and/or infection risk mitigation module 122 may execute on one or manyof the building system controllers 102. In some cases, part of the

FDD module 120 and/or infection risk mitigation module 122 is executedon the host device 70 and part of the FDD module 120 and/or infectionrisk mitigation module 122 is executed on the building systemcontrollers 102. In any scenario, the building system controllers 102may be connected to the host device 70 through any type of connectionsuch as a network (e.g., network 150), including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In various embodiments, the host device 70 maycommunicate with one or more devices from the various systems of thebuilding system controllers 102 over the network 150. Such communicationcan occur via Input/Output (I/O) interface(s) 124. In some cases, thecontroller 104 of the host device 70 may be operatively coupled to I/Ointerface(s) 124 via the bus 108, and may use the I/O interface 124 tocommunicate with devices via the building system controllers 102.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative infection riskreduction system that uses a building management system (BMS) 234. Whilethe BMS 234 is described with respect to a medical facility, it iscontemplated that the BMS may service another type of building, such as,but not limited to those described above with respect to

FIG. 1. In the example shown, the medical facility may include aplurality of rooms 202 with at least one room of the plurality of roomsincluding a plurality of sensors. In some cases, more than one room maybe provided, each with a plurality of sensors. For example, if a medicalfacility has three operating rooms, each operating room may have one ormore sensors configured to monitor the conditions in the room in whichthey are located. It is contemplated that other room types may havesensors as well, such an intensive care unit (ICU), patient recoveryrooms, etc. Further, different types of sensors or sensor combinationsmay be provided within the rooms depending on the type of room, theprocedures performed in the room, patient privacy expectations in theroom, etc. The sensors may include, but are not limited to biohazarddetection sensors 204, multimodal sensors 206, and/or active pressuremonitors (APM) 207. Some illustrative biohazard detection sensors 204may include, but are not limited, to carbon monoxide (CO) and/or carbondioxide (CO2) sensors 208, NOx (oxides of nitrogen) sensors 210,volatile organic chemical (VOC) sensors 212 (e.g., formaldehydesensors), mold detectors 214, particulate matter (PM) sensors 216, etc.Some illustrative multimodal sensors 206 may include, but are notlimited to, temperature sensors 218, humidity sensors 220, passiveinfrared (PIR) sensors 222, illuminance sensors 224, noise sensors 226,cameras 228, etc. Other sensors may include limit switches and doorsensors.

The room(s) 202 and/or sensors 204, 206, 207 may be in communicationwith an elevated risk determination system 230 over one or more networks250, such as a local area network (LAN) and/or a wide area network orglobal network (WAN) including, for example, the Internet. In someembodiments, some portions of the infection risk reduction system 200may be in communication over a LAN while other portions of the infectionrisk reduction system 200 may communicate over a WAN. Some portions ofthe infection risk reduction system 200 may be configured to communicateover both a LAN and a WAN. The elevated risk determination system 230may include a controller 232 configured to receive data from the one ormore sensors 204, 206, 207 and determine if conditions are present thatare indicative of an increased likelihood (e.g., an increased risk orchance) that a patient in the room(s) 202 will acquire an infection. Theelevated risk determination system 230 may be configured to transmit analert, such as, but not limited to an elevated infection risk for aparticular room in the medical facility to the BMS 234. In some cases,the elevated infection risk alert may be a binary alert, such as a flagthat is raised when the risk of infection crosses a threshold. In othercases, the elevated infection risk alert may present the risk along ascale of risk, from low to high. In some cases, the elevated infectionrisk alert may include additional information such as what sensedconditions caused or formed the basis of the elevated infection riskalert. It is contemplated that the location of the sensor 204, 206, 207that triggered the alert may be included in and/or accessible from thesensor database 242 of the building management system 234.

The controller 232 may include at least a processor and a memory forstoring information, such as, but not limited to risk analysis rules,sensor location information, set points, diagnostic limits, medicalprocedure information, surgical tool location, etc. The memory may beany suitable type of storage device including, but not limited to, RAM,ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard drive, and/or the like. In some cases,the processor may store information within the memory and maysubsequently retrieve the stored information from the memory. Thecontroller 232 may further include an input/output block WO block) forreceiving one or more signals from the sensors 204, 206, 207 and/or forcommunicating with the building management system 234. The I/O block maybe wired and/or wireless.

In some embodiments, the elevated risk determination system 230 mayinclude a user interface 236 that permits the elevated riskdetermination system 230 to display and/or solicit information, as wellas accept one or more user interactions. In one example, the userinterface 236 may be a physical user interface that is accessible at theelevated risk determination system 230, and may include a display and/ora distinct keypad. The display may be any suitable display. In someinstances, a display may include or may be a liquid crystal display(LCD), and in some cases an e-ink display, fixed segment display, or adot matrix LCD display. In other cases, the user interface 236 may be atouch screen LCD panel that functions as both display and keypad. Thetouch screen LCD panel may be adapted to solicit values for a number ofoperating parameters and/or to receive such values, but this is notrequired. In still other cases, the user interface 236 may be a dynamicgraphical user interface.

In some instances, the user interface 236 need not be physicallyaccessible to a user at the elevated risk determination system 230.Instead, the user interface 236 may be a virtual user interface 236 thatis accessible via the network 250 using a mobile wireless device 248such as a smart phone, tablet, e-reader, laptop computer, personalcomputer, key fob, or the like. In some cases, the virtual userinterface 236 may be provided by an app or apps executed by a user'sremote device for the purposes of remotely interacting with the elevatedrisk determination system 230 controller 232.

The room(s) 202 and/or sensors 204, 206, 207 may be in communicationwith the building management system 234 over the one or more networks250. The building management system 234 may include a controller 238configured to receive data from the one or more sensors 204, 206, 207.The illustrative building management system 234 includes a controller238. In some embodiments, the controller 238 may be a host controller,such as the host device 70 described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2. Inother embodiments, the controller 238 may be a system controller, suchas any of the system controllers described herein. For example, thecontroller 238 may include at least a processor and a memory for storinginformation, such as, but not limited to rules, set points, diagnosticlimits, medical procedure information, compliance parameters, clinicalparameters, etc.

The memory may be any suitable type of storage device including, but notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard drive, and/or thelike. In some cases, the processor may store information within thememory and may subsequently retrieve the stored information from thememory. The controller 238 may further include an input/output block(I/O block) for receiving one or more signals from the sensors 204, 206,207 and/or the elevated risk determination system 230. The I/O block maybe configured to receive wired or wireless signals. It is furthercontemplated that the controller 238 may further include a control portfor providing control commands to one or more building components of thebuilding management system 234. In some cases, the control commands maybe in response to receiving the elevated infection risk alert for aparticular room and may be tailored to help mitigate the elevatedinfection risk in that particular room. The one or more control commandsmay control the building management system in accordance with one ormore programmable infection risk compliance parameters for theparticular room, as will be described in more detail herein.

In some embodiments, the building management system 234 may include auser interface 240 that permits the building management system 234 todisplay and/or solicit information, as well as accept one or more userinteractions. In one example, the user interface 240 may be a physicaluser interface that is accessible at the building management system 234,and may include a display and/or a distinct keypad. The display may beany suitable display. In some instances, a display may include or may bea liquid crystal display (LCD), and in some cases an e-ink display,fixed segment display, or a dot matrix LCD display. In other cases, theuser interface 240 may be a touch screen LCD panel that functions asboth display and keypad. The touch screen LCD panel may be adapted tosolicit values for a number of operating parameters and/or to receivesuch values, but this is not required. In still other cases, the userinterface 240 may be a dynamic graphical user interface.

In some instances, the user interface 240 need not be physicallyaccessible to a user at the building management system 234. Instead, theuser interface 240 may be a virtual user interface 240 that isaccessible via the network 250 using a mobile wireless device such as asmart phone, tablet, e-reader, laptop computer, personal computer, keyfob, or the like. In some cases, the virtual user interface 240 may beprovided by an app or apps executed by a user's remote device for thepurposes of remotely interacting with the building management system 234controller 238.

The building management system 234 may maintain a first, or sensor,database 242 of data obtained from the one or more sensors 204, 206,207. For example, a memory accessible by the processor of the controller238 may be configured to store the database 242 of sensor data such thathistorical and current sensor data is readily accessible. In some cases,the building management system 234 may only have access to themultimodal sensors 206 and thus the database 242 of sensor data may onlystore data for these sensors. The building management system(s) 234 maymaintain a second, or rules, database 244 that includes a set of rulesor algorithms that may be used to identify actions that should be takento lower a patient's risk of infection. In some cases, the rulesdatabase 244 may also include one or more programmable infection riskcompliance parameters. In some cases, the rules or algorithms may beused to control the building management system 234 in accordance withone or more programmable risk compliance parameters for a particularroom to help mitigate the elevated infection risk in the particularroom. A set of rules may include at least one rule, two or more rules,three or more rules, etc. The elevated infection risk alert may bereceived from the elevated risk determination system 230 and is based onthe detected conditions (e.g., from the sensors 204, 206, 207) in aparticular room. The set of rules may determine what action to take toreduce the elevated infection risk, sometimes in accordance with the oneor more programmable risk compliance parameters for the particular room.A memory accessible by the processor of the controller 238 may beconfigured to store the rules database 242 and/or the one or moreprogrammable risk compliance parameters for each room, such that therules and algorithms are readily accessible.

The rules database 244 may be downloaded onto the controller 238 of thebuilding management system 234 from an external server(s) 246 over anetwork 250, although this is not required. The network 250 may be awide area network or global network (WAN), such as the interne. Theexternal server(s) 246 may be a suite of hardware and software which maysometimes be referred to as “the cloud.” In some cases, thecommunication may pass through an intermediary server or cloud network,but this is not required. In some cases, the cloud may provide theability for communication amongst the building management system 234,the elevated risk determination system 230, the external server(s) 246,and/or one or more remote devices 248. While the external server(s) 246is illustrated as connected to a building management system 234, theexternal server(s) 246 may be connected to a plurality of buildingmanagement systems. The external server(s) 246 may collect and storesensor data 254 from the various sensors 204, 206, 207 from the one ormore connected building management systems 234. The external server(s)246 may include a controller 252 configured to analyze the sensor dataand determine if the rules stored in a network rules database 256 needto be or could be improved by updating the rules from time to time.

Returning to the elevated risk determination system 230, the data fromthe sensors 204, 206, 207 may be analyzed for conditions that increase arisk of infection to a patient. Some conditions that may increase a riskof infection include, but are not limited to, a high particulate count,a high humidity level, a low humidity level, a high room temperature,high traffic into, out of, and/or within the room, high biologicalparticle levels, low air changes per hour (ACH), low air velocity, highair velocity, high mold conditions, etc. These are just some examples ofconditions which may impact a risk of infection. While the terms “high”and “low” are relative terms, it should be understood that as usedherein, high is to be interpreted as exceeding or above a predeterminedthreshold while low is to be interpreted as under or below apredetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold may be userdefined, defined by one or more programmable risk compliance parameters,or a combination thereof.

When the elevated risk determination system 230 detects a condition thatis indicative of an elevated risk of infection in a particular room 202of the one or more rooms, the elevated risk determination system 230transmits an alert or signal to the building management system 234. Insome cases, the elevated infection risk alert may include additionalinformation such as what sensed conditions caused or formed the basis ofthe elevated infection risk alert. In response, the controller 238 ofthe building management system 234 may apply appropriate rules in therules database 244, and the applied rules may inform the controller 238how to control the building management system 234 in that particularroom. This may include changing one or more control parameters of thebuilding management system 234 as dictated by the one or more rules thatcorrespond to elevated infection risk alert. It is contemplated that achange in the control of the building management system 234 or change incontrol parameter of the building management system 234 may varydepending on the particular room that resulted in the elevated infectionrisk alert (e.g., an operating room, a general patient room, a waitingroom, etc.), a condition of a patient or patients in the particularroom, (e.g., respiration issues, germ shedding, open wound, broken bone,etc.) a degree of severity of the elevated infection risk alert ifprovided, etc. These are just some examples of factors that may beconsidered by the rules when defining an action to take in response toan elevated infection risk alert. It is contemplated that some scenariosmay require a more conservative control or change to the buildingmanagement system 234 while other conditions may require more severechanges in the control of the building management system 234.

In some cases, the processing of the sensor data may be performed in thecloud or remote from the controller 232 of the elevated riskdetermination system 230, although this is not required. In someembodiments, an elevated infection risk alert may be sent to a remotedevice 248 by the elevated risk determination system 230. The remotedevice 248 may be any interne connected device including a smart phone,tablet, e-reader, laptop computer, personal computer, etc. Thenotification may be received by an application program code (app) orother module 260 within the remote device 248. Once the notification hasbeen received at the notification module 260, the notification may bedisplayed on the user interface 2586 of the device 248. In some cases,an audio alert (e.g., a beep or chime) or a haptic alert (e.g., avibration) may accompany the notification.

It is contemplated that the rules database 244 may be tailored to theparticular rooms within the building. For example, the rules database244 may include a plurality of rules established for a particular typeof room based on a risk of infection in the type of rooms. For example,operating rooms, where there may be a lot of people coming and going aswell open pathways to the body, may have more strict rules dictatingtighter control of the environment than a patient room where a patientis recovering from a surgery. The appropriate set of rules may bedownloaded to the controller 238 in response to a user identifying thedetails of the rooms 202, sometimes including available sensors 204,206, 207 in the rooms, to the controller 238. The user may enter roomdetails at the user interface of the controller 238, through a remotedevice, or through a web client, as described above. It is contemplatedthat the sensors 204, 206, 207 may be named or identified such that theyare associated with a particular room in the building.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart 300 of an illustrative method for controlling abuilding management system 234. To begin, infection risk complianceparameters may be received at the building management system 234 andstored in the rules database 244, as shown at block 302. Each hospitalmay want to define their own infection risk compliance parameters forthe various rooms in their facility, based on their own compliancecriteria. That is, the infection risk compliance parameters may betailored to each hospital, and then to different room(s) in thehospital. Then, when the rules are applied, which may take into accountthe infection risk compliance parameters, the building management system234 may respond differently in different hospitals.

It is contemplated that the infection risk compliance parameters may bemanually entered by a user (e.g., an installer or the medical facility)at the controller 238 (or a remote device 248) or the user may use thecontroller 238 (or a remote device 248) to send a request to theexternal server(s) 246 to obtain the rules database, as shown at block302. Alternatively, or additionally, the controller 238 mayautomatically request the rules database from the external server(s)246. Alternatively, or additionally, the controller 238 may beconfigured to automatically request the most up-to-date rules from theexternal server(s) 246 at predetermined time schedules. It is furthercontemplated that additionally, or alternatively, the external server(s)246 may be configured to automatically send or push revised rules to thecontroller 238 as the rules are updated.

The infection risk compliance parameters may be stored in the rulesdatabase 244 of the building management system 234, as shown at block304. The infection risk compliance parameters may define, at least inpart, how the building management system 234 responds to an elevatedinfection risk alert from the elevated risk determination system 230.The infection risk compliance parameters, which may be references by therules, may help dictate how the building management system 234 respondsbased on the particular elevated infection risk alert, the cause of theelevated infection risk alert, the particular room or room type (e.g.,operating room, recovery room, patient room, intensive care unit room,etc.) to which the elevated infection risk alert applies, etc. It iscontemplated that the controller 238 may receive infection riskcompliance parameters for each of the different room types such that thebuilding management system 234 may be controlled in accordance with theroom type when an elevated infection risk occurs in the particular room.In some embodiments, the infection risk compliance parameters may bespecific to a particular patient or type of patient. For example, if ahigh-infection-risk patient is present in a room (e.g. open wound, weakimmune system, etc.), a user may input this information to thecontroller 238, and the rules may cause the controller 238 to controlthe environment in that room differently than if a low-infection-riskpatient (e.g. dehydrated) were in the room.

Referring briefly to FIG. 5, which illustrates an example rules database400. The rules database 400 illustrated in FIG. 5 is not intended toprovide a complete listing of the events which may result in arecommended action or control change in the building management system234. Instead, the rules database 400 is provided as an example of someillustrative rules that may be created for reducing a patient's risk ofinfection. Each rule 420 a, 420 b, 420 c, 420 d, 420 e, 420 f(collectively, 420) is shown in a separate row and may include a roomtype 402, a reason for the elevated infection risk alert 404, one ormore actions 406, 408, 410 that may be taken by the building managementsystem 234 to help mitigate the risk, a patient type 412, an alertseverity 414, and/or an occupancy of the room 416. The rules 420 maytake into consideration compliance parameters (e.g., default values,customized by a hospital, etc.).

In a first example rule 420 a, if an elevated particle count isdetected, the air changes per hour (ACH) may be increased. In anotherexample rule 420 b, if an elevated biological particle count is detectedthe ACH may be increased and an ultraviolet (UV) light activated to killthe biological particles. In some instances, the UV light may bepositioned within an air duct or other portion of the air handlingsystem, although this is not required. In another example rule 420 c, ifthere is elevated traffic in a room (e.g., more people than expectedand/or doors opening more than expected) the ACH may be increased and aUV light activated to kill the biological particles. In yet anotherexample rule 420 d, if elevated humidity is detected, the ACH may beincreased and a dehumidifier activated. In yet another example rule 420e, if the patient condition is indicative of a higher risk forinfection, the ACH may be increased, a UV light activated, and thehumidity increased. In another example rule 420 f, if conditions areindicative of an elevated risk of mold, the ACH may be increased, adehumidifier activated, and the temperature of the room decreased. Insome cases, the ACH may be increased to increase the volume of air, tomaintain directional air, and/or to maintain a cleanliness of the air.These are just some examples and are not intended to be limiting.

The action(s) 406, 408, 410 may be specific to the reason for the alert,the room type, the alert severity, and/or the patient type. For example,in some cases, only one action is taken by the building managementsystem 234 while in other cases, multiple actions are taken by thebuilding management system 234. In some embodiments, the action 406,408, 410 may include automatically adjusting a control parameter of thebuilding management system 234. In other embodiments, a user may berequired to approve the control change prior to the controller 238adjusting the control parameter of the building management system 234.Alternatively, or additionally, a user may be required to verify acondition before a control change is implemented. For example, a usermay be required to verify that increase ventilation to a room will notadversely affect the indoor air quality (for example, by bringing indust from a construction project).

Returning to FIG. 4, the controller 238 of the building managementsystem 234 may be configured to receive an elevated infection risk fromthe elevated risk determination system 230, as shown at block 306. Asdescribed above, the elevated risk determination system 230 monitors thesensor data from each room 202 equipped with sensors 204, 206, 207. Whenthe elevated risk determination system 230 determines a condition in aparticular room is consistent with an elevated infection risk, theelevated risk determination system 230 may issue or send an elevatedinfection risk alert to the building management system 234. In somecases, the elevated infection risk alert may be a binary alert, such asa flag that is raised when the risk of infection crosses a threshold. Inother cases, the elevated infection risk alert may present the riskalong a scale of risk, from low to high. In some cases, the elevatedinfection risk alert may include additional information such as whatsensed conditions caused or formed the basis of the elevated infectionrisk alert.

In some instances, the elevated infection risk is then mitigated oraddressed by controlling the building management system 234 inaccordance with the action(s) 406, 408, 410 defined by rule. The rulesmay reference one or more infection risk compliance parameters, as shownat block 308. In some cases, the elevated risk determination system 230may take into account the room type, room location, severity of thealert, and/or other condition or parameter before issuing the elevatedinfection risk alert. In other cases, the elevated risk determinationsystem 230 may issue an elevated infection risk alert for a particularroom, and in response, the controller 238 of the building managementsystem 234 may apply appropriate rules in the rules database 244, alongwith one or more infection risk compliance parameters, to determine howthe controller 238 controls the building management system 234 in thatparticular room. It is contemplated that the action taken may vary basedon a combination of the room type, room location, a severity of thealert, and/or a reason for the alert. In some embodiments, the elevatedinfection risk alert may cause the controller 238 of the buildingmanagement system 234 to alert a maintenance crew of requiredmaintenance in or near the particular room which resulted in theelevated infection risk alert. For example, dirty air filters may bedetected by an air particle count above a threshold value. In someembodiments, the elevated infection risk alert may cause controller 238of the building management system 234 to alert a cleaning crew to cleana particular room to help reduce the elevated infection risk alert. Forexample, images from security cameras can be processed to determine if aparticular room has been wiped down by a cleaning crew. Elevatedinfection risk alerts may be generated if the cleaning is not performedin compliance with cleaning rules. It is contemplated that there may bedifferent cleaning rules for different room types (e.g., operating room,intensive care unit room, recovery room, patient room). It is furthercontemplated that the clean rules may vary over time for a particularroom in accordance with factors that change over time (e.g., occupied,unoccupied, infection risk factors, etc.). In another example, when alow-infection-risk patient is moved out of a room and ahigh-infection-risk patient in moved into the room, an elevatedinfection risk alert from the elevated risk determination system 230 maycause the controller 238 of the building management system 234 tocontrol the environment differently and may even schedule an extracleaning beyond the normal cleaning schedule.

In some embodiments, the building management system 234 may beconfigured to adjust parameters in other rooms, spaces, and/or corridorsto proactively prevent a similar increased risk that has been detectedin a particular room. For example, rooms, spaces, and/or corridorsadjoining a particular room that has been identified as havingconditions consistent with an increased risk of infection may havecontrol parameters manipulated prior to the conditions in said room,space, and/or corridor deteriorating to a level in which an increasedrisk of infection is identified.

FIG. 6 illustrates a first dedicated space 500 in which the conditionsmay be manipulated to reduce the risk of infection. In the illustratedembodiment, the dedicated space 500 may be an operating room or suite.The operating room 500 may include equipment for performing theprocedure, such as, but not limited to, an operating table 502, a backtable 506, a case cart 504, an anesthesia machine and equipment stack508, etc. The operating room 500 may further include a plurality ofsensors similar in form and function to the sensors 204, 206, 207described above. The location, arrangement, and number of sensors canvary depending on the application, size of the room, etc. For example,the operating room 500 may include a plurality of velocity sensors 510positioned about or around the operating table 502. In some cases, thevelocity sensors 510 may be positioned between air handling vents 512(e.g., air inputs, air returns, and/or air recirculating vents).

As described above, the air velocity may be manipulated (e.g., increasedor decreased) to reduce a patient's risk of infection based on themeasure of air velocity at sensors 510. In some embodiments, theoperating room 500 may include particle counters 514. It is contemplatedthat the particle counters 514 may be positioned at or near the airhandling vents 512, although this is not required. It is contemplatedthat a high particle count may indicate a need to replace a filter,increase an air changeover rate, decrease an air changeover rate, etc.In some embodiments, the operating room 500 may include additional airquality sensors, such as, but not limited to total volatile organiccompound (TVOC) samplers 516 and/or gas sensors 518.

The operating room 500 may further include one or more environmentsensors 520. The environmental sensor(s) may include, but are notlimited to temperature sensors, humidity sensors, dew point sensors, airdensity sensors, etc. In some embodiments, the operating room 500 mayfurther include one or more context or image sensors 522 (which may ormay not be high definition). The context sensors 522 can include, butare not limited to monitoring activity (e.g., people entering and/orexiting a room, washing hands, following protocols, etc.), monitoringthe location of the occupants of the operating room 500, monitoring theposture of the occupants, monitoring gestures performed by theoccupants, monitoring the attire of the occupants, etc.

The data from the sensors 510, 512, 514, 516, 518, 520, 522 may berecorded and analyzed at, for example, a processing unit (not explicitlyshown) which may be a building management controller or a separateprocessing device. The processing unit may issue building controlcommands based on the sensor data. In some cases, the processing unitmay identify a risk of infection (e.g., SSI and/or HAI) based on thesensor data. The processing unit may then adjust a building controlparameter (e.g., transmit a change in control parameter to a particulardevice of the building management system) to mitigate or reduce the riskof infection. Alternatively, or additionally, the processing unit maytransmit a recommending to be viewed and/or approved by an appropriatestaff member prior to implementing the change. It is contemplated thatsensor data may be trended, monitored, displayed, and/or analyzed inreal time and viewable on display in the operating room 500 or alocation exterior to the room 500. In some cases, the processing unitmay be configured to generate compliance reports and/or HAPS SI riskreports (automatically or in response to user input).

FIG. 7 illustrates another dedicated space 600 in which the conditionsmay be manipulated to reduce the risk of infection. In the illustratedembodiment, the dedicated space 600 may be a patient room which mayinclude intensive care unit patient rooms and/or other specializedpatient rooms. The patient room 600 may include equipment and/orfurniture for patient care and/or comfort, such as, but not limited to,a patient bed 602, a toilet room 604, etc. The patient room 600 mayfurther include a plurality of sensors similar in form and function tothe sensors 204, 206, 207 described above. The location, arrangement,and number of sensors can vary depending on the application, size of theroom, etc. For example, the patient room 600 may include a plurality ofvelocity sensors 606 positioned about or around the patient bed 602,doors 608, etc. In some cases, the velocity sensors 606 may bepositioned between air handling vents 608 (e.g., air inputs, airreturns, and/or air recirculating vents). As described above, the airvelocity may be manipulated (e.g., increased or decreased) to reduce apatient's risk of infection based on the measured air velocity atsensors 606. In some embodiments, the patient room 600 may includeparticle counters 610.

It is contemplated that the particle counters 610 may be positioned ator near the air handling vents 608, although this is not required. It iscontemplated that a high particle count may indicate a need to replace afilter, increase an air changeover rate, decrease an air changeoverrate, etc. In some embodiments, the patient room 600 may includeadditional air quality sensors, such as, but not limited to totalvolatile organic compound (TVOC) samplers 612 and/or gas sensors 614.While not explicitly shown, the toilet room 604 may include an exhaustsystem which may be a constant volume exhaust or a variable (e.g.,controllable) exhaust.

The patient room 600 may further include one or more environment sensors616. The environmental sensor(s) may include, but are not limited totemperature sensors, humidity sensors, dew point sensors, air densitysensors, etc. In some embodiments, the patient room 600 may furtherinclude one or more context or image sensors 618 (which may or may notbe high definition). The context sensors 618 can include, but are notlimited to monitoring activity (e.g., people entering and/or exiting aroom, washing hands, following protocols, etc.), monitoring the locationof the occupants of the patient room 600, monitoring the posture of theoccupants, monitoring gestures performed by the occupants, monitoringthe attire of the occupants, etc.

The data from the sensors 606, 610, 612, 614, 616, 618, may be recordedand analyzed at, for example, a processing unit (not explicitly shown)which may be a building management controller or a separate processingdevice. The processing unit may issue building control commands based onthe sensor data. In some cases, the processing unit may identify a riskof infection (e.g., SSI and/or HAI) based on the sensor data. Theprocessing unit may then adjust a building control parameter (e.g.,transmit a change in control parameter to a particular device of thebuilding management system) to mitigate or reduce the risk of infection.Alternatively, or additionally, the processing unit may transmit arecommending to be viewed and/or approved by an appropriate staff memberprior to implementing the change. It is contemplated that sensor datamay be trended, monitored, displayed, and/or analyzed in real time andviewable on display in the patient room 600 or a location exterior tothe room 600. In some cases, the processing unit may be configured togenerate compliance reports and/or HAI/SSI risk reports (automaticallyor in response to user input).

FIG. 8 illustrates another dedicated space 700 in which the conditionsmay be manipulated to reduce the risk of infection. In the illustratedembodiment, the dedicated space 700 may be a general use space, such as,but not limited a patient examination room. The general use space 700may include equipment and/or furniture for patient care and/or comfort,such as, but not limited to, an examination table 702, a sink 704, oneor more chairs 706, etc. The general use space 700 may further include aplurality of sensors similar in form and function to the sensors 204,206, 207 described above. The location, arrangement, and number ofsensors can vary depending on the application, size of the room, etc.For example, the general use space 700 may include a plurality ofvelocity sensors 708 positioned about or around the examination table702, doors (not explicitly shown), etc. In some cases, the velocitysensors 708 may be positioned between air handling vents 710 (e.g., airinputs, air returns, and/or air recirculating vents). As describedabove, the air velocity may be manipulated (e.g., increased ordecreased) to reduce a patient's risk of infection based on the measuredair velocity at sensors 708. In some embodiments, the general use space700 may include particle counters 712. It is contemplated that theparticle counters 712 may be positioned at or near the air handlingvents 710, although this is not required. It is contemplated that a highparticle count may indicate a need to replace a filter, increase an airchangeover rate, decrease an air changeover rate, etc. In someembodiments, the general use space 700 may include additional airquality sensors, such as, but not limited to total volatile organiccompound (TVOC) samplers 714 and/or gas sensors (not explicitly shown).The general use space 700 may further include one or more environmentsensors 716.

The environmental sensor(s) may include, but are not limited totemperature sensors, humidity sensors, dew point sensors, air densitysensors, etc. In some embodiments, the general use space 700 may furtherinclude one or more context or image sensors 718 (which may or may notbe high definition). The context sensors 718 can include, but are notlimited to monitoring activity (e.g., people entering and/or exiting aroom, washing hands, following protocols, etc.), monitoring the locationof the occupants of the general use space 700, monitoring the posture ofthe occupants, monitoring gestures performed by the occupants,monitoring the attire of the occupants, etc.

The data from the sensors 708, 712, 714, 614, 716, 718, may be recordedand analyzed at, for example, a processing unit (not explicitly shown)which may be a building management controller or a separate processingdevice. The processing unit may issue building control commands based onthe sensor data. In some cases, the processing unit may identify a riskof infection (e.g., SSI and/or HAI) based on the sensor data. Theprocessing unit may then adjust a building control parameter (e.g.,transmit a change in control parameter to a particular device of thebuilding management system) to mitigate or reduce the risk of infection.Alternatively, or additionally, the processing unit may transmit arecommending to be viewed and/or approved by an appropriate staff memberprior to implementing the change. It is contemplated that sensor datamay be trended, monitored, displayed, and/or analyzed in real time andviewable on display in the general use space 700 or a location exteriorto the space 700. In some cases, the processing unit may be configuredto generate compliance reports and/or HAI/SSI risk reports(automatically or in response to user input).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure maybe manifested in a variety of forms other than the specific embodimentsdescribed and contemplated herein. Accordingly, departure in form anddetail may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure as described in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A building management system for a facilitycomprising: one or more sensors for sensing one or more parametersassociated with an infection risk in one or more regions of thefacility; an elevated infection risk determination system operativelycoupled to the one or more sensors for predicting one or more elevatedinfection risks in one or more regions of the facility based at least inpart on the one or more parameters sensed by one or more of the sensors;and a controller operatively coupled to the elevated infection riskdetermination system, the controller configured to provide one or morecontrol commands to proactively control one or more components of thebuilding management system to mitigate one or more of the predictedelevated infection risks in one or more regions of the facility.
 2. Thebuilding management system of claim 1, wherein the elevated infectionrisk determination system and/or controller is configured to identify atrend in one or more parameters sensed by one or more of the sensors. 3.The building management system of claim 1, wherein the one or moreparameters associated with an elevated infection risk in one or moreregions of the facility comprises a temperature parameter and a humidityparameter.
 4. The building management system of claim 1, wherein the oneor more parameters associated with an elevated infection risk in one ormore regions of the facility comprises a particle count parameter. 5.The building management system of claim 1, wherein the one or moreparameters associated with an elevated infection risk in one or moreregions of the facility comprises a total volatile organic compound(TVOC) parameter.
 6. The building management system of claim 1, whereinone or more control commands comprise a command to proactively increasean Air Change per Hour (ACH) in one or more regions of the facility. 7.The building management system of claim 1, wherein one or more controlcommands comprise a command to proactively change a temperature in oneor more regions of the facility.
 8. The building management system ofclaim 1, wherein one or more control commands comprise a command toproactively change a humidity in one or more regions of the facility. 9.The building management system of claim 1, wherein one or morecomponents of the building management system comprises an UV component,and wherein one or more control commands comprise a command toproactively turn on the Ultraviolet (UV) component of the buildingmanagement system to kill biological particles.
 10. The buildingmanagement system of claim 9, wherein the UV component is positioned inan air duct or other portion of an air handling system of the buildingmanagement system.
 11. A method for mitigating elevated infection risksin a facility, the method comprising: receiving one or more sensedparameters associated with an infection risk in one or more regions ofthe facility; predicting one or more elevated infection risks in one ormore regions of the facility based at least in part on one or more ofthe sensed parameters; and providing one or more control commands toproactively control one or more components of a building managementsystem of the facility to mitigate one or more of the predicted elevatedinfection risks in one or more regions of the facility.
 12. The methodof claim 11, further comprising identifying a trend in one or moresensed parameters associated with an infection risk in one or moreregions of the facility.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the one ormore sensed parameters associated with an elevated infection risk in oneor more regions of the facility comprises a temperature parameter. 14.The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more sensed parametersassociated with an elevated infection risk in one or more regions of thefacility comprises a humidity parameter.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the one or more sensed parameters associated with an elevatedinfection risk in one or more regions of the facility comprises one ormore of a particle count parameter and a total volatile organic compound(TVOC) parameter.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein one or morecontrol commands comprise one or more of: a command to proactivelyincrease an Air Change per Hour (ACH) in one or more regions of thefacility; a command to proactively change a temperature in one or moreregions of the facility; and a command to proactively change a humidityin one or more regions of the facility.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein one or more components of the building management systemcomprises an UV component, and wherein one or more control commandscomprise a command to proactively turn on the Ultraviolet (UV) componentof the building management system to kill biological particles.
 18. Anon-transient computer readable medium storing instructions thereon thatwhen executed by one or more processors, causes the one or moreprocessors to: retrieve one or more sensed parameters associated with aninfection risk in one or more regions of the facility; predict one ormore elevated infection risks in one or more regions of the facilitybased at least in part on the one or more sensed parameters; and provideone or more control commands that proactively control one or morecomponents of a building management system of the facility to mitigateone or more of the predicted elevated infection risks in one or moreregions of the facility.
 19. The non-transient computer readable mediumof claim 18, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processorsto identify a trend in one or more sensed parameters associated with aninfection risk in one or more regions of the facility.
 20. Thenon-transient computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one ormore control commands comprise one or more of: a command to proactivelyincrease an Air Change per Hour (ACH) in one or more regions of thefacility; a command to proactively change a temperature in one or moreregions of the facility; and a command to proactively change a humidityin one or more regions of the facility.